Tim Ho Wan, Chatswood | Review

Tim How Wan is noted as the cheapest Michelin starred restaurant and that was enough to convince us to go. Weaving through the maze of children enjoying Vivid we made our way to the Chatswood branch and were lucky enough to get a table for our party of six straight away.The menu is only one page so we ended up ordering a lot off the menu, curious to see how different Michelin starred dumplings would be to other dumplings we have tried.

The first thing we picked was the Baked Bun with BBQ Pork (3 for $8.80) as this is one of their more famous dishes. I am normally not a fan of pork buns as I find they are mostly boring bread and not much filling but I really like Tim Ho Wan’s. They are a bit sweeter and because they are baked, a bit more crunchier than your typical pork bun. And the filling is tasty and moreish. Would come back for these buns.

The picture of the Vermicelli Roll with Sesame Sauce (3 for $5.80) looked so tasty but we were a bit worried because it didn’t have any filling but I am definitely glad we ordered it because the peanuty sauce was so flavoursome and tasty that we didn’t miss the filling at all. In fact I much preferred it to the Vermicelli Roll with Beef (3 for $7.50), as I found that one a bit bland in comparison.

We also ordered the Prawn Dumplings (4 for $8.30) because we thought this was a pretty standard item and would allow for direct comparison with other dumplings we have had. They were fine but nothing special or above par. I also thought this when I had the Pork Dumpling with Shrimp (4 for $7.80). These two tastes like your generic yum cha items.

When the Beef Balls with Beancurd Shrimp (3 for $6) got served I thought they looked a bit unappealing and I nearly gave it a miss and lucky I did because they ended up being quite tasty. I didn’t like the curd but the actual ball was juicy and full of flavour.

I thought the Wasabi Salad Prawn Dumplings (3 for $6.80) sounded a bit different so picked that, and although they were nice they were nothing special. And because we had ordered so much, the fried nature of them meant they were the ones we had leftover.

Tofu with Pork Floss ($7.80), not usually a fan of silken tofu I didn’t have high hopes for this dish but the outside was nice and paired with the floss, I could barely taste the tofu haha. It was nice to have something that wasn’t just dumplings. Which is why we also got the Glutinous Rice with Lotus Leaf ($9.90), basically a saucy sticky rice. This was nice to nibble on between dumplings but we only really needed one pack between the six of us because the second pack went untouched.

Sesame Rice Ball with Salted Egg Yolk (3 for $8.80), this was a special that we nearly missed as it wasn’t on the main menu and I am glad we didn’t because it was delicious! Sweet and crunchy on the outside and as you bite, its filled with a sweet, warm yellow filling. This and the Baked BBQ bun tied for my favourite. They should definitely put this one the main menu.
Overall we had a very nice time at Tim Ho Wan. Although our minds weren’t blown, none of the dishes disappointed and there were a few hits. I would definitely go back.